Let it never be said that Santa Claus doesn’t exercise.
In Prospect Park, Brooklyn Sunday morning, over 100 Santas of all ages could be seen warming up for the fifteenth annual Santa Suit 5K run. Many left their red coats open and rolled their red pants up above the knees as they prepared to run approximately 3.1 miles through the park in the unseasonably mild December weather.
Rockapulco, a running club based in the Rockaways, organizes the Santa Suit run every year for the benefit of several charities, including the Prospect Park Youth Track Club and the Catholic High School Athletic Association. The event began at Farrell’s Pub on the corner of Prospect Park West and 16th Street, where participants could check in with coordinators John Edwards and John Lovett and obtain the standard Kris Kringle costume that comes with the $50 online registration. Edwards and Lovett also handed each adult participant a ticket for one two-pint cup of beer to be ordered back at the bar at the end of the run.
“What about for my kid?” asked one participant with a smile.
“Oh, the kids get a shot each,” Edwards joked before offering a more appropriate, non-alcoholic suggestion. He delivered many more straight-faced jokes as he checked names and directed participants to where they could change into their costumes. He wore his own modified version: a Santa hat and a black tracksuit, with a bright red “Santa Run” T-shirt visible through the open jacket.
The runners came in groups and on their own. Parents helped children into the suits as they attached white beards to their own faces, a clear sign of dedication, considering the 60-degree weather. All were smiling and laughing when Edwards and Lovett began leading the group from the bar to Bartel-Pritchard Square for pre-run stretching.
When the time came to begin, Edwards led the pack of Santas to the starting line. Coordinating by cell phone with Lovett who was setting the clock at the finish line, Edwards called the runners to attention. With a shout and a wave, he set them off.
The course looped through the park and ended back at Bartel-Pritchard Square where the organizers had set up a digital timer and laid out water, snacks and prizes for the runners crossing the finish line.
Edwards guessed how long it would take the first runner to complete the course. “I bet 20:30,” he said.
He was not far off.
The first person to run past the clock came in at just over 21 minutes. Rodney Abbot, a Brooklyn resident originally from New Zealand, barreled into the make-shift winners’ circle with his Santa coat hanging wide open and his beard trailing from the back of his head. Clearly, the balmy December morning had proven too much for the full costume.
“My wife kind of put me up to it,” Abbot said explaining why he had joined the run. “She saw posters in the neighborhood and thought it would be a good joke.” His wife Lisa and two daughters laughed.
The organizers offered the first six winners the choice of a strawberry cheesecake or apple-peach cobbler to take home as a reward for their victory. Abbot and his family opted to give their prize back for another winner to enjoy.
Just ten seconds behind Abbot came 12-year-old Julianne Yotov. Julianne clocked an average 6:51 minute mile with her costume flapping in the wind behind her.
“This is a minute slower than she normally runs,” said her smiling father. Yotov, a member of the Prospect Park Youth Track Club, has run several 5K races with the club and just finished a cross-country season. As a prize, she selected one of the peach-apple cobblers.
“I don’t really eat them,” she admitted with a small laugh and said it was for her family.
Rockapulco will host another Santa Suit 5K on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. in Rockaway Beach. Perhaps the ocean breeze will make running in full costume more bearable.
